Light of the Heart
by Herald Lucretia
Summary: The Sailor Scouts have a new enemy...and a new member. Can they awaken her powers in time?
1. Restless

Light of the Heart

Chapter 1: Restless

    It was a cool night, and the stars shone and twinkled merrily in the moonless sky. The breeze weaved its way through the tree branches, bringing with it the smell of distant places. Tawni sat as still as she could, listening to the sound of the crickets chirping to the night air. Just above her, a little bird worked busily on its nest under the eave. Tawni loved to come out here at night, when the world surrendered itself to quiet. And what better place to enjoy it then on the roof? So, each night, as her parents slept, Tawni crept out her bedroom window onto the gently sloping shingles to enjoy the night. It was her thinking time, her time away from the real world, where the night air seemed to clarify and piece together her thoughts for her. Tonight she sat there in the dark and just let her thoughts take her where they would.

    _'Wouldn't it be nice...' she thought to herself, _'to live in the times of the knights of old? The adventures, chivalry, dragons and deeds, it must have been so exciting! To have an adventure like that would be the best thing that could ever happen to me. It'll never happen though. I have to wake up and face reality. I'm not a child anymore, although I wish I was.' _Tawni sighed, the sound of which threaded its way through the night air, only to reach the ears of Tawni's chestnut mare, Aurora. The horse was watching Tawni from her paddock, as though listening to her thoughts. Then, as if shaking herself from a dream, Aurora flicked the flies off her coat and went back to her dinner of hay._

***********

    Tawni crawled back into her room through her window, and began to get ready for bed.  _'First day at my new school tomorrow,'_ she thought to herself as she ran the brush through her short, red hair, _'Oh Yay. I bet all the girls here are either nut cases or total ditzes. Who said I wanted to move here anyway? If Dad hadn't been transferred, I'd be at home now, in my room, and I would see my friends tomorrow, at my school. At least they have good TV shows here!'_ Tawni sighed again, and got into bed.

_    'Maybe it won't be that bad.'_

_    'Yeah, right.'_

***********

     Crossroads High School was your typical high school full of yelling, laughing kids and teachers. Tawni hated it. Her fears about her classmates were confirmed when Miss Haruna introduced her to Serena. She had never met a ditzier, clutzier girl in her entire life. From there, Serena introduced her to Molly, Melvin, and Ami. Out of the four, Ami had to be the most normal.

    _'I can deal with Ami,' thought Tawni on her way home from school, _'Molly's nice, but Melvin's a total nerd, and Serena, well, we won't even go there.'_ Tawni sighed. She missed her friends from home. Suddenly, a voice broke into Tawni's thoughts. It was Serena, running down the sidewalk toward her. As Tawni watched, Serena tripped over a bump in the sidewalk and fell flat on her face. __'Oh great,' thought Tawni, __'It's el ditso again. I had better wait for her.' Serena had by now gotten up and was pelting up the sidewalk again. She stopped just short of Tawni, and grinned, breathing heavily._

    "Hi! I thought that you might want to come and meet some friends of mine, but when I looked for you after school, you had already left! So I decided to try and catch up with you!" Tawni stared at Serena. 

    _'She may be ditsy, but she does mean well. Might as well go with her,' thought Tawni. _

    "Do you want to come?" asked Serena, still out of breath.

    "Yeah, I'd like that," said Tawni.

    "Great!" said Serena, and started off down a side street. "But we better hurry, cuz I'm already late. NotthatI'mnotalwayslatemindyoubutI..." Tawni just grinned and followed the retreating voice.

***********

    "What do you think guys?" asked Rei, looking around at the faces of the other scouts. The meeting with Tawni had gone pretty well, and all the girls liked her. 

    "I don't know," said Lita, "I mean, is she really a Sailor Scout?" she asked Luna.

    "She sure is, and a powerful one at that," answered Luna, "She has her own guardian, but for some reason, Aurora hasn't seen fit to awaken her yet."

    "Aurora?" Serena asked.

    "Her guardian," said Luna. "I'll have to pay a visit and see why Tawni hasn't been given her powers."

    "But can she help?" asked Serena, "You haven't mentioned her before. Where is she from?"

    "She comes from the planet Andromeda, which was destroyed by Queen Beryl shortly before the attack on the Moon Kingdom," said Artemis, "She came to help us as quickly as she could, but was too late. We were already finished. She could be a great asset to us against Pupurum if she is awakened."

    Ami nodded. "According to my calculations, with her added power, we may actually have a chance where there was none before."

    "Well," interrupted Mina, "all I know is that I'm hungry again. Lita, is there anymore of that delicious cheesecake? Cuz if not, I'm for some ice cream." The other girls agreed, and set off for the ice cream parlor.

************


	2. Meet the Family

Chapter 2: Meet the Family

    Saturday afternoon found Tawni walking down the streets of Tokyo, looking for someplace to eat. She had been shopping all morning, and it was time for lunch. She decided to try the little cafe` she had passed earlier. Ten minutes later, she walked in the door, only to be astonished at how crowded it was. _'Where am I going to sit?'_ Just as she started contemplating going somewhere else, a voice came from the table under the window. 

    "You may sit with us if you wish."  

    Deep and full, the voice could easily have been mistaken for a guy's, and had been many times, but Tawni wasn't fooled. Walking over, she saw that the speaker sat at the table with two other girls, a couple of years older then her. The one next to the girl that has spoken was very pretty, with shoulder-length sea green hair and fair skin. The third girl sat across the table from her. She had long, dark green hair that brought out her startling red eyes. This girl watched the clock almost absentmindedly, as if she was forcing it to tick the seconds by. She turned toward Tawni and smiled, motioning toward the seat next to her.

    "You may sit next to me. I don't believe that Amara wants to give her seat up." At this, the original speaker grinned and winked at the girl next to her. Then she turned to Tawni, giving her a full view of her face. Hair cut short and blonde, Amara could have easily been mistaken for a boy, and Tawni got the feeling that this was the intent. Tawni seated herself next to the dark haired girl, and tried to avoid Amara's sharp eyes, which seemed to pierce through her to read every thought.

    "Stop it Amara, you're making her nervous." said a soft voice, and Tawni looked up to see that it had come from the girl next to Amara. "Hello, don't mind Amara. She likes to be intimidating. My name is Michelle, and you are seated next to Trista. What is your name?"

    "My name is Tawni, and it's nice to meet all of you. I'm kinda new here, so it's nice to meet new people." The other girls smiled at this, and Michelle asked Tawni if she liked it in Tokyo. Tawni thought about that question. Earlier that week, she would've said no, that she hated it. But now...

    "Yeah, I do. People are nice here."

    "Make any new friends?" This came from Amara, who turned her gaze back on Tawni again. This time, her eyes had a look of vague interest.

    "Yeah, I did. Miss Haruna introduced me to some kids in my class, and one of them introduced me to her friends." Suddenly, all three looked very interested.

    "Do you go to Crossroads High?" asked Trista, her eyes bright.

    "Well yeah, why?" Tawni was curious at the reaction of her new friends. To her surprise, Michelle started to laugh.

    "I told you there was something about her." she said to Amara. To Tawni she said, "The girls you were introduced to wouldn't happen to be named Serena, Ami, Rei, Mina and Lita would they?"

    "Actually, yeah. Do you know them?" Amara grinned, and Trista chuckled. 

    "Oh yes, we know them," said Trista, "Very well, in fact. Very well indeed."

****************

    The moonlight glistened in the tree branches as a small, lithe figure made its way toward the paddock. A small, black cat leapt up on top of the fence post and meowed plaintively into the night. From the other side of the paddock, a beautiful chestnut horse emerged from the darkness, trotting over to where the cat was seated. 

    "Hello Aurora, it has been a long time," said Luna. A woman's voice seemed to emerge from the horse. Lush and full, it was reminiscent of sunshine itself.

    "Greetings Luna, what brings you out here on this dark night?" she asked.

    "I've come to ask you why Tawni has not yet come into her full power. The scouts are sorely in need of her help." Aurora shook her great head, her dark mane falling back in place.

    "She is not yet ready. As you know, Sailor Heartlight's power comes from her intense love of all things. I can't awaken her power unless someone she loves is in danger." 

    Luna sighed, worry etched in her face.

    "I am sorry I couldn't help any further," Aurora said, "If I could, you know I would."

    "I know Aurora, and thank you. And keep trying!" Luna leapt off the post and ran into the night.

    "I will," Aurora said to her retreating form, and then turned, trotting back into the darkness.

*************


End file.
